By Bill Petzold
Editor
CARO — The Beatles sang “I get by with a little help from my friends.”
Now Tuscola County Pumpkin Festival organizers will make pie with a little help from their friends.
The Caro Knights of Columbus Council No. 3224 announced in May that after more than 30 years of annually baking 4,000 pumpkin pies for sale at Pumpkin Fest, the group would no longer provide the venue and volunteers for Pumpkin Fest’s biggest fundraiser.
That left organizers in a quandry and preparing for what they feared would be the 34th and final Tuscola County Pumpkin Festival.
But thankfully, organizers are pleased to say that the festival has been saved and the show will go on October 1 through 5, 2014.
We are definitely going to have a festival We have pies, and as far as I’m concerned this is the best thing that’s ever happened because we’ve had nothing but postitive responses from the community.
The Tuscola Technology Center will play a key role in the festival’s survival. Organizers said Chef Bob Zehnder’s Culinary Arts students will bake about half of the 4,000 pies, and students from other classes will pitch in and also help out downtown. Since students come to the TTC from every Tuscola County school district, the arrangement is fitting considering that the Pumpkin Fest is intended to be a county-wide autumn celebration.
Also, Caro High School will provide an additional venue for pie baking. Organizers said the school’s head cook will oversee the production there, and again the festival board will reach out to all of Tuscola County’s schools, particularly students looking to rack up some easy community service hours.
Organizers said the pies will be the same recipe, and the only thing that will change is the venue.
And as far as providing the ingredients, The Tuscola County Advertiser and parent company Edwards Publications have stepped up to the pie plate, donating just over $9,000 to purchase all packaging materials and ingredients for the pies.
“This being the county festival, and us being the county newspaper, it was an easy decision,” said Advertiser publisher Tim Murphy. “A lot of people have put in a lot of work over the past 30-plus years to make this a festival the entire county can be proud of. This isn’t a Caro festival. This is a county festival with free activities for all ages. Our investment is meant to help keep that going in Tuscola County for years to come.
“Roger stressed to me the money to offer free activities has to come from somewhere. We wanted to make sure the festival organizers can plan those activities instead of worrying about if the festival will continue.”
Organizers said they are looking forward to trying out a few new ideas this year as well, such as moving the time of the car show back to noon to 4 p.m. Board member Louise Hodges said she also hopes that Great Pumpkin competitors are already babying along their biggest pumpkins to make them the heaviest in the county, and that children in grades 2 through 6 are also gearing up for the Prince and Princess competitions, in which pumpkins are judged by the size.
For information on the Tuscola County Pumpkin Festival, visit tuscolapumpkinfest.com. Guests also may weigh in with their ideas about the 2014 Pumpkin Festival on Facebook. Several polls have been added to help organizers gauge public opinion on certain issues or ideas.